1 day Ago By Andrew Brown and Kat Wong
A looming call on interest rates is set to cast a shadow on the election campaign, as major party leaders sharpen their pitches on the cost of living. Login or signup to continue reading The central bank will hand down its latest cash rate decision on Tuesday afternoon. Economists say a cut is unlikely, but its decision will have an impact on the election.
It's the only time the Reserve Bank will make an interest rate decision during the election campaign, the first since it cut for the first time in almost five years in February. It comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shifts his campaign to Adelaide, announcing $150 million to expand a healthcare centre in the city. Health Minister Mark Butler said the commitment would reduce pressures on health practices as well as reduce medical costs, alongside the government's measures to expand bulk billing.
"It will increase and broaden that pipeline of new health workers," Mr Butler told ABC TV on Tuesday. "We'll provide additional medical school places to all the big medical schools in Australia. More doctors, nurses, and health workers is critical to strengthening Medicare.
" As Opposition Leader Peter Dutton campaigns in Melbourne, the coalition have also unveiled plans to lower entry barriers for first home buyers to enter the market. The coalition have pledged to lower the serviceability buffer, an increased interest rate banks apply to new loan applications to check whether buyers can repay a mortgage. The rate currently sits at three per cent, but opposition housing spokesman Michael Sukkar said the rate had been inflexible.
"Having these artificial rules in place, well intentioned though they may be, are ultimately just blocking young Australians from ever getting finance to ever buy a home," he told ABC Radio. "Now that we have elevated interest rates, a serviceability buffer that has not remained flexible with those changes is just blocking first time buyers from entering the market." While an interest rate cut would be well received by mortgage holders, YouGov polling director Amir Daftari said a lowering would not shift the political dial.
"The economic sentiment is still not great. People are not seeing the tangible benefits yet, but I think there's still a positive outlook there," he told AAP "Times have changed and that might be a bit of an advantage for Labor." Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles called for parties not to overreact to news about a Chinese research vessel off the Australian coast.
Mr Marles said while Australian forces were monitoring the ship, crew on the Chinese vessel were working with New Zealand. "We need to just have a a step back here and take a bit of a deep breath," he told Sydney radio station 2GB. "We do have a close sense of, or a good understanding of, what the ship is.
But it's important that we react properly and that we do not overreact." Opposition campaign spokesman James Paterson said there was still uncertainty about the ship's purpose. "We don't know what it's doing but it has some pretty interesting capabilities," he told Seven's Sunrise program.
"I'm worried the prime minister is again not across the details when it comes to an important matter of national security." Australian Associated Press DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update.
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